Genaro Ramírez Vázquez and Nawat

An inspirational song and story from El Salvador! 

The song is in honour of Genaro Ramírez Vázquez. He is known as the dreamer and farmer who revived the Nawat language in El Salvador. The Pipil are Indigenous People from this region and speak the Nawat/Nahuat/Pipil language. This language has been mostly silent since atrocities about 90 years ago. Genaro became the first teacher of the language, and he made sure he wasn’t the last. He left his farming tools behind and instead spent 40 years working for his language. He gave free classes every day of the week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. He advocated for documentation, broke taboos, and made Nawat known in all the political levels of the country.

In the 1980s, Nawat was estimated to have around 200 speakers. By 2009, 3,000 people were participating in language learning programs. The vast majority being young people and the vast majority are from Genaro Ramírez’s hometown of Witzapan or Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

In 2010, this town started a language nest called “Xuchikisa nawat” ("the house where Nawat blooms"). Children 3-5 years old started learning Nawat. There are now digital initiatives and collectives, linguistic websites, blogs, and language learning videos. The first National Day of the Nawat Language was celebrated in February of 2017 in Genaro’s hometown. A few months after this, he passed away but he used his life to plant these language seeds that continue today. Below is a quote that speaks of his story, passion, and dedication. You can check out the song to see a series of photos of Genaro and read the article to learn more.

** Information above was found by searching the internet and sources like Wikipedia.

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Quote:

~ I understood what that hole was that I had felt for so long in my chest. So, I threw my tools in the cornfield because I felt that I could not go on like this, and I […] said to myself: ‘I must teach Nawat even if I’ll starve to death

~ Entendí qué era aquel hoyo que por tanto tiempo sentía en el pecho. Así que tiré mis fierros ahí en la milpa porque sentí que ya no podía seguir así, y […] me dije: ‘Yo debo enseñar el náhuat aunque me muera de hambre’

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Article:

Tata Genaro Ramírez: The Farmer Who Revived the Nawat Language in El Salvador · Global Voices

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Song with Nawat and Spanish lyrics in the description: Canción en Nahuat Piipil "METSALI NAHUAT"